Board of Directors

Jim Burge joined the CASA Board of Directors in 2015 after serving on the Finance Committee beginning in October 2014. He played a significant role facilitating development of the recently completed Strategic Plan. Jim has extensive experience in corporate planning, financial analysis, business development and mergers and acquisitions. He worked for Smart & Final for 17 years as Vice President, Strategic Planning and later served as Director of Corporate Development for Farmer Brothers Coffee. He began his career with Marriott Corporation after receiving an MBA degree from UCLA.

Jim and his wife, Julie, have lived in Santa Barbara since 1990. Their two sons, Andrew and David, grew up in Santa Barbara attending public schools. Jim is currently assisting David and his nephew James with their start-up of Pure Order Brewing, a local craft microbrewery.

Martin Lynch joined the Board in 2014.  He has an extensive background in finance.  He began his career with Price Waterhouse in Chicago, serving as an Audit Manager.  Over the following 35 years he was Chief Financial Officer of a number of public and private companies including Tiger International, Duty Free Shoppers, and Smart & Final.  Most recently he was a Director and Chairman of the Audit Committee on the Board of Farmer Brothers Coffee.  He was licensed as a Certified Public Accountant in Illinois and California.

Born and raised in Chicago, Marty earned his bachelor’s degree in accounting from De Paul University.  His career moved him from Chicago to Los Angeles, then Honolulu and San Francisco before reaching Santa Barbara in 1989.  Marty met his wife Deborah in Santa Barbara, a city they both love.  They share and cherish six children and eight grandchildren.  In addition to serving as staff for their two cats the Lynch’s enjoy travel, golf, hiking and reading.

After graduating from Cal Poly with a B.A. and M.A. in 1969, he started his career on an Indian reservation in Covelo, CA. After one year of teaching and coaching, he was called to active duty in the U.S. Army as a Second Lieutenant. Following one year stationed at Fort Knox, KY, Jeff was deployed to Vietnam. Upon returning in December of 1971, Jeff resumed his teaching and coaching career in Covelo and then in 1973 moved to Brawley, CA where he spent one year, teaching and coaching at Brawley High School.
 
In 1974, Jeff, Linda, and their one-year-old child Nicole moved to Santa Maria, where they have resided since. From 1975-1984, he was a teacher, coach, counselor, athletic director and administrator at St. Joseph High School. In 1984 he accepted a position as Assistant Principal at Santa Maria High School. He remained at SMHS until 2000, spending his last nine years as Principal. In June 2000, he was appointed Superintendent where he served until his retirement in June of 2009.
 
Over the course of his time in Santa Maria, Jeff has served on a number of boards and been a member of several community groups, including United Way, Fighting Back, SELPA of Santa Barbara County Education, Community Advisory Committee of the Santa Maria City Police Department, California Association of School Administrators, High School Network of California and Meals on Wheels.

Veronica Sandoval has more than 21 years of experience working for the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians and currently serves as the Administrator for the Chumash Foundation. In her role as the Administrator, she is responsible for managing the tribe's philanthropic programs including administering grants, sponsorships, and in-kind donations to local nonprofit organizations, overseeing multi-year commitments, developing community partnerships, and overseeing the employee volunteer program - Team Chumash. Sandoval has a long history in the Santa Ynez Valley and descents from the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians. Active in both her tribal community and the local community Sandoval was currently re-elected to the College School District Board of Trustees, a position she has held since 2011.

Sandoval also served as a board member for Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of Santa Barbara County from 2013 until 2015. In 2015 she stepped down when she was appointed to the Child Welfare Safety Net Task Force. As a Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisor's appointee, Sandoval along with three other Task Force members were responsible for examining the Child Welfare System to ensure that it was performing at its highest level to serve Santa Barbara County foster youth. Sandoval is a former foster turned adoptive parent and rejoined the CASA board in November 2016 to continue the important work of advocating for Santa Barbara County's most vulnerable children.